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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO—Buddhanomics: Live Small

It is hard for any of us to remember in this consumer driven world, but there is a wonderful freedom in living simple, living small.

The psychologist Abraham Maslow said that man really needs just a few things for peace and happiness ... a certain amount of food and a healthy environment, shelter and physical safety, the love and friendship of others. Beyond that, anything else might be seen as a luxury! What is more, we can be prisoners of "things" if we crave them to excess, hang our happiness on them, run after them, hoard them, cling to them. Thus, we should learn the freedom of a Zen monk, who finds the whole universe in a small, nearly empty room ... who has few possessions, and is not very much attached to even those.

It is hard to do these days for most of us in the west (me too), but there is great good in not running after or being tied to material things.

Today’s Sit-A-Long video follows at this link. Remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells; a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended.

Re: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO—Buddhanomics: Live Small

Jundo-oso;

Thanks for that wisdom. We went to Japan in 1993 with two suitcases and returned to Canada in 1999 with 47 boxes. Since, we have given the major portion of it away except for the Kaidandan and the kusuridan. It's good to downsize. We've enjoyed the pleasure of seeing people happy when they receive an exotic gift. On another note, from a professional place as a retired Funeral Director, when they toss your ashes in the back field be sure to request that they leave a marker so that those who knew you will have a place to go to mourn, grieve, remember the good times; another human need.

Re: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO—Buddhanomics: Live Small

Originally Posted by richard409

. On another note, from a professional place as a retired Funeral Director, when they toss your ashes in the back field be sure to request that they leave a marker so that those who knew you will have a place to go to mourn, grieve, remember the good times; another human need.

gassho, Richard

Thank you Richard. YOU are an exotic gift!

I try to tell folks to see the sky, feel the rain and wind, smell the ocean and hug each other. That's the grave marker ... much more spacious than just 6 x 6 hole in the ground. A whole, not a hole. 8)

Re: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO—Buddhanomics: Live Small

I am not as consistent with living with less, but the past few years I have made some great strides—it helps that I am single with no children, of course. I live right next door to where I work, which also helps a lot (I’ve put just a little over 500 miles on my truck this year). My biggest vice is books. A thief would be very disappointed, because the only luxuries of any monetary value I have here is my laptop and a couple musical instruments. The books and CDs I have (mostly classical) couldn’t even be sold to most places, at least not where I currently live! LOL Still, it is important for me to be reminded of this again and again though!

Some years ago, my ex-wife & I lived in Dallas and we were making a ton of money, and yet we spent so much of it on things and eating out to nice restaurants. I finally became sick of living this way and wanted to return back to Smalltown, USA where we were both originally from. I had re-discovered Thoreau and wanted out of the rat race. It really wasn’t worth all the stress. It is all clutter to me—and not just the material things, but the time spent on such things such as TV. I’ve even recently made a new resolution regarding reduced time on the internet. There are so many wonderful benefits to living with less.

There is one book I came across some years ago—out of print, unfortunately—but well worth reading if you can find it. It’s a sort of compendium of quotes from various writers, thinkers, religious texts and poets, called Less Is More: An Anthology of Ancient and Modern Voices Raised in Praise of Simplicity, edited by Goldian VandenBroek. Lovely book.

Re: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO—Buddhanomics: Live Small

Hi there Jundo, this may double up as I just posted a reply and it disappeared, but here goes.

Thank you Jundo for a lovely message. During these last few months of unemployment I have been forced to live small. I was surprised at how quickly I stopped yearning for the un-necessaries of life. I wonder, when I get a job, will I quickly revert to 'junk gathering'? Mayhap I will play this vid of ytours whenever I get the urge to spend.In which case - thank you in advance.

By the way, I love the view of Treeleaf Zendo. Over here barn conversaions are the must have super home, I never liked them myself but yours has really got something. Perhaps sometime we could see some photos or a vid tour of Treeleaf inside and out during daylight, it would be nice to see the zZendo where we all spend so much virtual time.